Scintillating off-shore keys, verdant lagoons, crumbling port towns and scores of ‘end-of-the-world’ settlements conspire to make Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast one of the most photogenic locations in the country. Snapped in April 2010, these images supply fleeting impressions of the Creole communities of Bluefields and Pearl Lagoon, as well as the Garifuna capital of Orinoco, the Corn Islands and Pearl Keys. Further afield, in the Northern Atlantic Autonomus region, the Miskito port of Bilwi and remote village of Waspam are pictured.
Subject to harsh tropical elements, the Caribbean port of Bluefields carries an unmistakeable air of decay. But like any good Central American town, life here is conducted in the street, whatever its state. This photo set features an excerpt and link to a piece published on the award-winning Perceptive Travel website.
Nicaragua’s Rio San Juan province is one of the most verdant and entrancing locales in all Central America. Home to the vast and endlessly meandering San Juan river – a waterway that connects Lake Nicaragua in the west with the Caribbean sea in the east – the region was nearly selected as the site for a transoceanic canal. Fortunately, the concession went to Panama, and the province remains a bastion of remote intrigue, as this photo set attests.
The island of Ometepe – reminiscent of some dark, prehistoric otherworld – rises from lake Nicaragua with misty twin volcanoes. Arid volcán Concepción is active and periodically spews ash. Smaller Volcán Maderas is dormant and swathed in cloud forest. The island’s unearthly feel is reinforced by scores of middle-of-nowhere indigenous villages and prolific pre-Columbian relics that depict everything from shamans to blood-thirsty snake gods. These photos were snapped in February 2010, during the dusty dry season.
These images were snapped in León’s central market – one of the more cleanly and ordered I’ve encountered in Nicaragua. One of the most visually arresting (if slightly grotesque) sections dealt with seafood and poached meats. Dead fish and crustaceans were piled high amid buzzing flies, and between bowls of dead green iguanas I spotted sacks of turtles’ eggs for sales. Although turtles are critically endangered, their eggs are widely consumed by macho men hoping to boost their virility.
Nicaragua is a country particularly well suited to street photography. Everything of interest and importance happens on the street. Whilst snapping this collection in the markets and plazas of Granada, I was faced with many challenges of method and ethics. Ultimately, however, I found the subject too vivid and interesting to leave undocumented.
Granada’s old hospital stands in a state of abject destitution, broken and dilapidated after many years of neglect. Located on the west side of the city, close to the Masaya highway, this haunting ruin – replete with teeming visceral textures, intriguing shadows and frames – is a free gift to photographers and urban explorers.
The somnambulant village of La Boquita is awakening. A rotund and loosely dressed woman emerges from a ramshackle cluster of decrepit shacks and lurching, half-fallen structures. Gnarled branches, thatched palm leaves and weathered, colourful sheets are the simple materials of her family home.
Mexico’s Copper Canyon is a land of expansive vistas, crumbling mule trails and endlessly convoluted mountain scenery. Comprised of six monumental canyons and a labyrinthine network of some 200 gorges, you can’t do much better for sheer size, scope and geological grandeur. These images were snapped at various locations: the mountain-town of Creel, the look-out of Divisadero, the rocky road to Batopilas and others.
The state of Guerrero, central Mexico, is punctuated by miles and miles of incandescent coastline. Home to the quintessential pleasure resort of Acapulco, it is one of Mexico’s most touristic states, and yet it is also one of its poorest. Rugged topography means many parts of the region are secluded from the outside world. These images were snapped between two of the region’s best known tourist attractions: Acapulco and Taxco.
Monday, September 20, 2010
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